Broomhall

This is an Anglo-Saxon surname of either locational or topographical origin. If the former, it can come from either of the places called Broomhall in Cheshire and in West Yorkshire, or from Bromhall in Berkshire. The place in Cheshire, or from Bromhall in Berkshire. The place in Cheshire is recorded as 'Brunhala' in the Domesday Book of 1086. All three places share the same meaning and derivation, which is from the Olde English pre 7th Century word 'brom', meaning broom or gorse, with 'halh', a nook or hollow. As a topographical surname, it denotes residence by such a 'broom-covered nook' or 'hollow overgrown with broom or gorse'. The modern surname has two forms, Broomhall and Bromhall. Ann Bromhall, daughter of James and Elizabeth, was christened at St. Paul's in Covent Garden, London, on the 14th April, 1695. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mathew de Bromhale, which was dated 1182, The Pipe Rolls of Cheshire, during the reign of King Henry II, The Builder of Churches, 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.